Empatico

Empatico takes the pen pal tradition into the 21st century -- and makes it easy to connect your classroom with others, near or far. Pretty much all the tools teachers would need are right there at their fingertips, from finding a partner classroom to communicating to lesson planning. The one missing piece might be assessment: Teachers will need to decide on their own how they'll gauge and evaluate what their students have gotten out of the experience. The chances for success in finding a good match is very much dependent on variety of teachers who decide to sign up; of course, the more buy-in there is, the better each teacher's chances are of finding a great match. Though it offers most of the tools teachers could need, the success of any exchange also depends on how well those teachers are able to collaborate and facilitate a meaningful experience. In fact, the biggest hiccup might be difficulties in finding a time when two classrooms on opposite sides of the globe can both have students in the classroom to participate in a live session, though asynchronous experiences are also possible. Overall, the potential for growth is really high when students are able to make connections with other students and explore what's similar and what's different about their lives.